Definition: sainte marie

The second most important figure in the history of Christianity is undoubtedly Mary, the mother of Jesus. It is the Catholic religion that developed the most significant and widespread veneration of her worldwide. There are countless shrines and places of pilgrimage dedicated to her. The wine-growing world has not been mistaken. There is a considerable amount of iconography associating the Virgin Mary with vines. One need only walk along the paths through the vineyards to come across statues, altars, oratories, chapels and churches dedicated to the Holy Mother. Throughout history, artists have highlighted the emblematic figure of Joseph's wife in their work, depicting her with the baby Jesus accompanied by a bunch of grapes. Our Lady shines tirelessly over the vineyards, assuring the winegrower, through devotion, of her powers of protection of crops and abundance of harvests or gatherings. Saint Mary, full of grace, invites Jesus to turn water into wine during the wedding at Cana.
The 25th of March is the Annunciation to Mary, celebrated by the Archangel Gabriel on the 24th of March.
Nine months of waiting and patience to give birth to the most precious grapes, those that are harvested before Christmas to produce rare wines that command nothing less than prostration. In short, spring is the announcement, the prelude to the coming birth of the fruits of the vine, which is considered the nurturing mother of lovers of the divine nectar. The vine is also symbolically linked to Christ. This is why, throughout the first two millennia, countless representations of the Virgin Mary associated with grapes or vines have decorated churches, chapels, priories, calvaries, cathedrals, convents and repositories in the form of statues, images and sculptures. And this is true throughout the western part of Europe.
On 15 August, the day of the Assumption of Mary in the Catholic tradition, certain customs in wine-growing villages organise a procession of the Virgin Mary associated with the vine. We are dealing with a biblical association of the type Vine = Virgin. Or the association Vine = Mother. Religious iconography abounds with images of the Virgin Mary depicted with her son holding a bunch of grapes.